Samsung to invest in smart manufacturing and R&D in India
- ByStartupStory | March 20, 2023
Samsung, the South Korean electronics giant, has announced its plans to invest in smart manufacturing capabilities at its mobile phone plant in Noida in order to enhance production competitiveness.
T M Roh, the President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics, has also stated that “the company will continue to invest in research and development facilities in India. This decision was made to further strengthen Samsung’s position in the Indian market”.
Samsung established its manufacturing and R&D centre in India in 1996, which has since grown to employ around 70,000 people.
Samsung has established its second-largest manufacturing facility in the world at Noida, India, along with its largest research and development centre located in Bengaluru.
Recently, the company has also started manufacturing its high-end Galaxy S23 series in India.
Roh highlighted that “the company has been focusing on the “Make in India, Make for India” initiative. Samsung is not only catering to the domestic market, but it is also utilising India as a hub for exporting products. He also mentioned that the company is partnering with local vendors in India for the production of mobile chargers and components such as mechanics”.
“Samsung’s collaboration with local partners in India has been crucial for achieving competitiveness in the market. The company plans to continue its collaboration with local vendors for technology development, and close partnerships with local vendors are instrumental in the production of export products, including OLED displays”, added Roh.
Samsung currently employs around 10,000 people in its R&D centres throughout India, with the largest group of approximately 3,500 located in Bengaluru.
Roh emphasised that Samsung will persist in investing in this area to drive new innovations.
T M Roh stated that India is expected to have one billion smartphone users by 2026, with a population of 600 million aged between 18-35 years, making it the largest population of GenZ and GenY globally.
Regarding the competition with Apple in the premium segment, Roh expressed confidence in Samsung’s understanding of the Indian market. As the company has the largest R&D and design centre in India, it can develop products that meet the requirements of Indian customers.
“Samsung’s strategy for expanding its market share in the premium segment is to enhance customers’ content creation experience and offer features that facilitate that process”, according to Roh.
Market research shows that in 2022, Apple continued to dominate the premium smartphone segment (priced above Rs 40,000 per unit) with a 60% share, followed by Samsung with a 21% share.
However, Samsung led the premium segment in value terms, holding 22% of the market share while Apple held 18%.
T M Roh also disclosed that Samsung plans to launch a self-repair service in India shortly. This service will allow customers to purchase phone components such as screens to replace damaged displays on their phones.
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